


Wishbone

by LupaAltrecation



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Wings, Barry Allen Needs a Hug, Barry is a very smart boy, Based heavily on Araciel and Reighost's revised ABO dynamics, Bisexual Barry Allen, Cinnamon Roll Barry Allen, Everyone wants to give him one so no worries, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, No Mating Cycles/In Heat, No flashpoint timeline, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Safe Sane and Consensual, Speed Force - Freeform, Wingfic, hand-wavy science, he doesn't screw with the timeline, pretty much a genius, though he does need help, who does not need his own powers spelled out for him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 09:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14041689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LupaAltrecation/pseuds/LupaAltrecation
Summary: The furcula ("little fork" in Latin) or wishbone is a forked bone found in birds and some dinosaurs, and is formed by the fusion of the two clavicles. In birds, its primary function is in the strengthening of the thoracic skeleton to withstand the rigors of flight.This system is responsible for lifting the wings during the recovery stroke.





	Wishbone

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Wingfic, and A/B/O fic. I am basing a good portion of the body language I’m indicating off of bird body language, in addition to human. Very non-traditional ABO dynamics, no heats, no mating cycles. Some people smell more attractive than others, but that is only due to genetic compatibility, everyone in verse (except delusional people) know this. Omegas, while peacekeepers, are by no means weak or helpless. Dynamics somewhat based off of Araciel and Reighost’s revamping of the omegaverse system, so check them out to see the details. Barry is an Omega, and that gives him the ability to scent and analyze emotions, and discern different smells, even if they’re old, using that to help solve crimes. He gets along well with others, and is well respected in his field.  
> Most importantly of all, everybody lives, nobody dies fic. There will be angst, feels, and hurt/comfort, people will get hurt, probably really hurt, but everyone is going to live to see the happy ending. Also, warning for major divergences, because Barry is freaking smart enough to not go screwing with the timeline without care for repercussions, especially not multiple times. There will be hand-wavy speed force screwery to ensure this. And other hand-wavy things, for the sake of the whole ELND thing. Even more things will change, because here Barry thinks Iris=sister, his very platonic soul mate. Things will obviously be different without his Iris obsession, though she can still talk some sense into him when it's needed.  
> Also, less important to the story, physics screwery. Wings on humans is impractical, the required size=too heavy to lift their own weight, so let’s just say gravity is different, plus human physiology is different, plus other things that are relevant are different. Human skeletons, musculature, and organs are lightweight, everyone has a higher degree of fitness because flying is hard, and the atmosphere has a higher oxygen percentage, and muscles are also more efficient, which means this world’s average human example A would be stronger and faster in comparison to real-world average human A.

 

* * *

 

Sound production is achieved using the syrinx, a muscular chamber incorporating multiple tympanic membranes which diverges from the lower end of the trachea; the trachea being elongated in some species, increasing the volume of vocalizations and the perception of the bird's size.

* * *

 

Barry groaned to himself, flopping down and carefully beginning to preen his wings. Today had been exhausting, Starling City really was a completely different world in comparison to Central. Throw in his chronic lateness, meeting the Arrow, finding out said Arrow was Oliver Queen, saving his life, subsequently almost being strangled, returning to Central while afraid of losing his job, then helping with a case, and you have a recipe for far, far too much for Barry’s poor little heart to handle. Despite the trouble, Barry truly admired what the Arrow did (it didn’t hurt he smelled fantastic without the scent blockers), and hopefully Oliver would like the mask Barry had made for him just before he left.

He sighed again, reminiscent, gently tugging at loose feathers and carefully aligning those that had gotten bent out of shape. Barry wanted to look his best for the particle accelerator being turned on, after all. At least one thing he had going for him was his looks. At least, he was pretty sure he was at least somewhat attractive. His wings in particular were known throughout the entire city for their beauty, huge even by the standards of his already tall stature, capable of long flights and incredible maneuvers. Their strongest point was their speed, though. Barry had never once lost in a contest of speed, and he had raced people who were already well known for exactly that. In appearance alone, his wings were a shade of gold that shone and glittered enough to be mistaken for having been coated with the precious metal, and each individual feather had thin, scarlet lines that looked akin to spidery, branching lightning bolts, every individual one unique. The sheer number of compliments and exclamations of how gorgeous they were had eventually been enough to convince him of that.

Barry could see why, since if those wings were sprouting from someone else’s shoulders he would be just as interested as everyone else seemed to be in his.

Finished with aligning the feathers, he reached back to carefully rub his fingers against the oil glands at the base of his neck and wings, coating them liberally and beginning to carefully oil his feathers, taking his time to luxuriate in the feeling. By the time he was done, they gleamed brightly enough that it was actually possible to see a faint reflection on their surface.

Completing his wing care, Barry stood and began to pace, drumming his wings, unable to contain his excitement for seeing his idol’s life’s work being activated. The possibilities that would be unlocked when the particle accelerator turned on were unquantifiable, and his feathers trembled slightly at the thought alone. A melodic strand of bird song slipped from him, but he didn’t bother restraining himself considering no one was around to hear.

Pulling himself together, Barry grabbed one of his finest shirts, colored a silky dark red that he buttoned in the front to his neck, and under his wings in the back. Black dress pants completed it, and he tried out a grin in the mirror. Looking like this, jaws would most definitely be dropping. Barry shook his head, brushing off those thoughts with the firm reminder that he was here for _science_ , not picking up guys or girls. Though…

Barry unbuttoned his top collar button, allowing the barest glimpse of his faintly colored red and gold skin around his neck and breastbone. Everyone else would be there for science too, so maybe he’d actually find someone who was both interesting and interest _ed_. Displaying a hint of his colorful ruff wasn’t sleazy, but it _was_ letting people know he might be interested.

Listen, he was lonely alright? Being Sebastian had gotten him used to constant companionship, and yeah he had friends, but he’d like something a little _more_. If he thought he had the slightest bit of a chance, he definitely would have tried showing off with a few wing and ruff displays in front of Oliver, to show his interest. Unfortunately, the young, attractive, famous, billionaire _hero of Starling City_ was way too far out of his league to even dream of. Well, not literally, because Oliver would probably star in _plenty_ of a certain kind of dreams, especially after Barry had felt his very nice body pressed all along his own, despite the whole strangulation thing ruining the mood at the time. Not that there was a mood in the first place, but still.

Looking at the time, Barry grinned. For once, the curse of his chronic lateness hadn’t struck. Maybe the world was giving him a break.

Walking out, he stumbled slightly as he ran straight into Iris. Barry rolled his eyes, resignedly amused when she pulled him into a slightly harsh embrace, running her hands over him while inhaling deeply to check for any sign or scent of injury. Iris was very much an Alpha, and despite the fact that Barry was a few months older, she tended to treat him more like a younger brother she had to protect and watch out for. Her dark indigo wings were slim and elegant, built for maneuvering, and Barry admired them while he tolerated his sister’s attentions. Then, he felt her tense against him, wings arching and mantling, and Barry remembered that with how well she knew him, Iris couldn’t possibly miss the fading distress pheromones from the altercation with Oliver.

Iris’s grip tightened, a low growling noise growing in her chest, and her wings flicked sharply in displeasure. “Which moronic Alpha thought they could mess with you, Bear? Just point me in their direction, I’ll show them just how idiotic their thinking is.”

Barry frowned, feathers ruffling slightly in annoyance. He could take care of himself just fine, even if it wasn’t just a misunderstanding. “What, no hello?” Her expression was unmoved. “I already took care of it, Iris,” he grumbled unhappily, tugging away.

Iris crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, really now?”

“ _Yes_ , really now,” Barry said, slightly snappy.

Iris hummed disbelievingly. “Well, I’ve got the scent memorized now, so if I ever meet them they better be on best behavior.”

Barry sighed, but figured that was as much as he would get. Besides, what were the chances he’d ever see Oliver again, much less long enough for Iris to catch on?

“Come on Bear, let’s go check out your nerd-fest,” Iris smirked, and Barry would have thought she forgot all about the incident if he didn’t know better, stepping back and only then noticing his clothes. Looking at his single undone button, and the faint colors beneath it, her smirk grew even wider.

“Glad to see you’re getting out there, I thought you were trying to go forever alone for a while there. I have to say, if you weren’t my brother I’d definitely be interested in that.” She teasingly waved a hand, gesturing to all of him.

Barry flushed slightly, pleased at the compliment, and his wings fluffed slightly in happiness, a quiet whistle slipping out. Iris looked satisfied at his response, wings arching proudly.

The two of them headed for the unveiling, and Iris listened to Barry’s excited chatter about a variety of complex subjects, focused around the particle accelerator, without complaint the entire way. When they arrived, Barry simply went silent, staring in awe as though the secrets of the universe were about to be unveiled before his eyes. Iris smiled slightly at his enthusiasm, even if she wasn’t as into things as he clearly was. Instead, as Harrison Wells began giving his speech about how the particle accelerator would lead to a better future, Iris scanned the crowds, observing in mild interest. There were more than a few people who were sneaking glances at her brother out of the corner of their eyes, and a couple others who didn’t bother with sneaking, flat out staring instead. It was understandable, Barry was frankly gorgeous after all, and if these people were impressed with this, they should see his pictures from when she had convinced him to give modeling a shot. Barry’s wings were drawing as much attention as always, again understandable, since even Iris couldn’t keep from staring at them in fascination on occasion, and she had grown up with him. Even in pictures, Iris had never seen anything as beautiful as Barry’s wings. Really, all he needed to do was display slightly and people would be lining up to beg for his attention.

How he was so lacking in confidence even after the countless compliments and praises he had showered upon him, was one of the world’s great mysteries as far as Iris was concerned.

Lost in thought, Iris didn’t notice someone sneaking up behind her right as the showing ended with the machine failing. Before she could even react to the encroachment on her personal space, someone snatched her bag away and took off. Or well, attempted to. Barry had scented someone who was a combination of nervous, determined, and malicious, and on pure instinct a single massive wing swept out and clocked the attempted thief, the powerful limb immediately knocking him unconscious.

Everyone in the vicinity turned to stare blankly at them, and Iris sighed as Barry began attempting to turn the color of a tomato under the scrutiny. His wing was still extended, and it took Iris nudging him and shooting a glance at it for him to notice. Barry flushed even redder, which she hadn’t thought possible, and tucked the wing back in hurriedly. Iris sighed, shooting a quick message to her dad about the attempted robbery and Barry’s latest incident of accidental heroism, before she began shepherding her brother away.

With some distance, Barry got over his embarrassment at inadvertently knocking someone out with his wings, _again_. Instead, he remembered that the particle accelerator had failed to turn on, and his wings began to droop as he sulked over the situation, completely relying on Iris to guide him along. In the end, she brought him to the familiar police station, and they both noticed a new face at the same time.

“Hey Bear,” Iris nudged her brother teasingly, “take a look at the transfer, right over there.”

Barry looked, and acknowledged that the guy would normally be his type, except at the moment the only one occupying the attention of his libido was Oliver Queen. “He’s hot, but I think I’m going to need a while before I start looking for someone.”

“Yikes, Bear, not even detective pretty boy there is doing it for you? Weren’t you trying to attract some interest earlier, with how you were dressed to show off your colors?” Iris asked, slightly confused.

“Yeah, I was hoping someone might be able to take my mind off someone else, who happens to be way out of my league, but that plan was a flop. Guess I’ll just have to leave it to time,” Barry sighed, wings quivering for a moment.

The siblings chatted a bit longer, before Iris left and Barry headed for his lab. Turning on the TV, the news was apparently covering the particle accelerator at STAR labs. Watching absently, his attention was drawn when something clearly began to go wrong. Barry froze in stunned horror as the machine exploded, and a shockwave shook the city, mind already leaping to the damage this would cause. A faint rumble of thunder caught his attention a few moments later, and now there was something in the air that was making every one of his instincts stand at attention.

Looking up at the skylight, he saw ominous, abnormal looking clouds roiling above him. Barry began to back away, but before he could take more than a step, a scarlet bolt of lightning thundered through the air, and time seemed to slow down before him as in a split second, faster than he could consciously process, it had broken through the skylight and struck him. His last memory before the world went dark was of flying back into a shelf filled with chemicals, causing them all to break and spill over him, and the final, electrifying feeling of being lit up from the inside.

Barry closed his eyes, and wouldn’t open them again for the next nine months.

 

* * *

 

Oliver wasn’t in the best of moods, and it was clear to anyone who knew him that he wouldn’t welcome company. The fact that Felicity, a usually cheerful if awkward Omega, was in a similar mood only emphasized there was something wrong that they shouldn’t be butting into.

Oliver was doing what he usually did in such situations: brooding. He had hardly gotten to know Barry Allen for under a day, during which the kid saved his life, and he subsequently attacked and threatened him. Oliver dropped his head and groaned softly at the memory. The fact that the kid didn’t hold it against him, even making him a mask that suited his needs before leaving, _while thinking Oliver disliked him_ , just rubbed salt in the wound.

The subtle undercurrent of attraction Oliver couldn’t help feeling for the CSI didn’t exactly help. Who could blame him though, the kid was gorgeous even without looking at his wings. His first thought upon seeing Barry was _“who the hell brought a supermodel to a crime scene?”_ even if what he said was an even more poorly thought-out “do your parents know you’re here?”. Speaking of gorgeous, Oliver could stare at Barry’s wings all day, the stunning gold complemented by scarlet electricity creating a beautiful, hypnotic appearance that even he, who thought he had seen it all, couldn’t help but feel awe towards. Felicity had agreed, judging by the excessive number of admiring looks tossed in Barry’s direction. Oliver somewhat jealously noted that the two of them went well together, as proven by their easy rapport and excited nerd-outs. The intelligent, brave man who called him out for being unnecessarily harsh to Felicity, and was back to smiling a few minutes after Oliver flipped out on him. Which, looking back on it, gave him the same feeling as he imagined kicking a puppy would.

After Barry had returned to Central, Oliver had spent a while contemplating how helpful a forensic scientist, especially one as brilliant as Barry so obviously was, could be on his team. Barry already knew his secret identity, got along well with Felicity (not surprising, considering both of them were capable of getting along with people like _Oliver_ , yes he knew what he was like, so getting along with each other was probably as easy as breathing), and could stand up to Oliver when he was in a mood (obviously, he would never admit to having _moods_ out loud, especially not in front of Felicity or Diggle). There were no drawbacks that he could see.

Oliver had brought his idea up to Felicity, who was even more enthusiastically on board with the idea than Oliver himself, at least outwardly (only because Barry could be a valuable addition to the team, of course), which made sense. Felicity would like having another Omega to geek out with on a team full of control-freak Alphas and unflappable Betas.

Then, the next day as they were still trying to figure out how to implement plan Poach-Barry-from-the-CCPD, consensually of course (Felicity thought their immediate friendly rapport could lure him, while Oliver was certain he could convince Barry by tempting him with more impossible cases, which was a bit manipulative but wasn’t hurting anyone, really), they found out that the cheerful young scientist had been struck by lightning, doused with electrically charged unknown chemicals, and was now in a coma. At that point, Oliver and Felicity’s moods dropped so fast that it likely gave Diggle whiplash. The military man was upset as well, because Barry had the kind of personality that anyone could come to care for within a day, and had been in on the plan, but he hadn’t been nearly as invested as the two of them were due to his few interactions with the CSI.

Which resulted in the current situation, where Felicity was snappy and sulking, and Oliver was growly and _definitely not sulking, he did not sulk_. Diggle had simply cleared out until they calmed down.

Concern was underlying his other feelings, though, and the idea of sneaking into Barry’s hospital room was sounding decidedly more appealing by the moment. His raven black wings twitched agitatedly, creating a small breeze. With a full span of 30 feet from tip to tip they were strong enough even a tiny flap could create a little wind. Previously, he had been quite proud of his span, even as the revenge-obsessed Hood for the intimidation factor alone, (though he had to use green-tinted feather dye on them in order to keep people from making the connection between the Vigilante and Oliver Queen, the sheer size tended to make people flinch at simply spreading them). Barry’s wings, however, were even bigger, though unlike Oliver’s they didn’t seem intimidating, not with the bright, appealing gold and scarlet colors. Felicity had stated, in a distinctly impressed tone, that his wings measured at over 32 feet in full span, meaning each one of his wings was over 16 feet in length. Every time he so much as ruffled his feathers, whoever was nearby couldn’t help but stare for a moment. Oliver hadn’t seen him spread his wings in the time Barry was visiting, but it would definitely be an impressive sight.

That thought just brought his mind back along to the fact that Oliver wouldn’t be seeing his full wingspan anytime soon, if ever, and back to sulk- _thinking_ , back to _thinking_. Damn it Felicity.

 

* * *

 

Barry regained consciousness slowly, and as he did, he took inventory of his surroundings. The sounds and scents indicated some kind of medical environment, which was confusing at first until he remembered electricity coursing through him and being sent flying back into a shelf. Considering plenty of reactive chemicals had been on said shelf, Barry really wasn’t too sure how he was still among the living. He had figured that his last memory would be of lightning, well, _lighting him up_ , and the strange sense of being connected to everything around him for too short a time to really register the sensation. Already, his mind was leaping to the repercussions of the accident. What were the medical effects of this? His mind seemed to work fine, but then again most crazy people thought they were sane. The only way to figure that out was to get a second opinion, and since he could smell the recent scents of whoever had been taking care of him, that wouldn’t be a problem.

Barry opened his eyes, and what he saw only confirmed his thoughts on being in some sort of medical facility. Carefully, he began testing each limb, looking for any signs of problems, but instead of the expected twinges of pain he actually felt better than ever before. Which instead of being comforting, made his mind leap to wondering what sort of experimental medical procedures had been tested on him to result in _this_? Plus, how long had he been asleep?

Voices and footsteps coming towards him made him think that he would be getting answers soon, though judging by their speed and approximate distance he still had a few minutes. Sitting up slowly, he cracked his neck which definitely should have been stiffer than it was, and slowly rolled his shoulders and stretched his wings, even more careful with testing them than he had been with anything else. Also, he was shirtless, which he somehow only just noticed.

Listen, he had been _distracted_ , okay?

Bringing his wings around for a better look, his gaze was drawn to the left one. There was a definite cosmetic change there, a glaring white mark that looked like a Lichtenburg scar crackled across the limb, extending all the way from his primaries before disappearing into his shoulder. Barry stood, noticing a convenient full body mirror, and didn’t take note of anything else before he turned around to look at his back. The scar smoothly transitioned to the skin of his shoulder blade, continuing its spidery journey across his back before disappearing under the waist of the sweatpants he was apparently wearing. Looking at his feet, he saw the scar curling around his ankle before ending at the heel of his foot, where he assumed the bolt had left his skin and been grounded. He looked down at where it struck him on the chest, seeing a branching scar that went up from his right pectoral, curling around his left shoulder and meeting the scar at the base of his left wing. The whole thing was odd, shouldn’t it have gone across his front instead of curling to the back before exiting? And why did it spread across his left wing instead of only going towards his leg? Speaking of his new color scheme, why would the feathers become white? They should have been charcoaled, and his entire wing probably should have been permanently damaged, but instead they were in just as perfect condition as the rest of his body. Not that he wasn’t grateful, but-

Wait, he had missed something. Right before he turned back to the mirror, wait no, make that oversized TV screen (and wasn’t this some kind of medical facility?) to check and see if lightning had caused delusions of a much more impressive musculature that he previously had, the people he had almost forgotten existed and were coming in his direction had arrived. Somehow, they seemed to be moving… slowly. In fact, the time he spent checking himself out was quite a while, during which they should have already arrived. Shelving the observation, he turned to look at the two, a man and woman, omega and beta respectively, staring at him in shock.

Then, a grin stretched across the guy’s face. He strode forward, seemingly jittery with… excitement? He really couldn’t tell. The guy’s wings were bright blue, with hints of green, quivering just as much as the man himself.

“So I see that sleeping beauty is finally awake! Glad to see no kissing was required in the process.”

“The feelings mutual,” Barry replied dryly, automatically responding to the good natured banter that was an island of familiarity in the sea of “what the hell?!” he found himself stuck in.

“Oh, he snarks!” The guy’s (he really needed to know their names) smile widened further, almost manic in its intensity. “You are my new favorite patient, from that alone!”

“He’s your only patient, and not really _your_ patient at that,” the woman drawled, sounding exasperated, “now can we be serious? I really need to find out if Barry here is suffering from side effects after being struck by lightning and spending nine months in a coma, so could you call Dr. Wells and let him know he’s awake?”

Barry blinked in stunned surprise. “Nine months?”

The man huffed, “now look who has a big mouth. Aren’t you supposed to tell these things to people in a calm, soothing environment or something?”

“You’re one to talk,” the woman arched an eyebrow.

“Uh, rude. Anyways, lightning boy, sit down, you need a check-up.”

Caitlin nodded. “You were struck by a bolt of lightning produced by the particle accelerator explosion, then doused in electrically charged chemicals. Who knows what’s going on with your biology at this point.”

Barry sighed, shelving her words away for later contemplation and possible freak outs. “Yeah, well could you tell me your names first? I’m not really into blindly trusting people whose names I don’t know.”

The woman winced, flushing slightly. “Sorry about that. I’m Dr. Caitlin Snow, and that idiot- “

“The _brilliant_ ” he stressed, eyeing Caitlin “and amazing Cisco Ramon, at your service. Well, not really, I’m here because your situation is weird as hell and interesting because of it.”

Barry grinned goofily, feeling slightly better now that he knew their names. “I’m Barry Allen, but, uh, you both already knew that.”

“Yeah, dude, who doesn’t know about your little sleeping beauty routine? It made the news.”

Caitlin rolled her eyes. “As a doctor, I needed to know your information to provide the best care for you.”

Barry nodded, before he remembered what he was doing before being interrupted. “Wait, uh, I need to check something, it’s really weird actually because I thought for a second there that something completely unrealistic and impossible had happened and I might be suffering from delusions, so let me just- “

Barry turned back to the mirror, and this time wasn’t just looking at his cool new scars. He stared silently for several long moments, and when the silence became awkward (and Cisco and Caitlin probably thought the lightning had damaged his brain, which was possible, because-) “okay, yeah, I am delusional, because from here it looks a lot like _lightning gave me abs?!_ ”

Cisco nodded faux-solemnly, looking more amused than concerned. “Oh yeah, it’s going to be the newest workout fad soon, three easy steps: get struck by lightning, fall into a coma for nine months, and wake up with a _very_ fine musculature.”

Barry turned to glare at him. “You aren’t supposed to be encouraging a crazy person’s delusions, you do know that right?”

Caitlin snorted. “Don’t worry, you aren’t crazy, cause I’m seeing those very nice abs just fine as well. Actually, congratulations, because you seem to have a very nice everything.”

Barry stared, flushing slightly at the compliment, and then attempted to examine himself. As an afterthought, he lifted and spread his wings as far as he could so he could get a better look at his _everything_ , as Caitlin called it. And, okay, yeah, his everything was, uh, definitely looking very nice. Like, he would totally be his own type, if you know, he wasn’t himself, which kind of ruined things, and- he was stopping that mental tangent right there.

Looking back to Cisco and Caitlin, he realized the two of them were staring at him in shock. Then he realized, oh yeah, there was a reason he didn’t really spread his wings in public much. Cause people did that, right there. The staring thing.

Cisco blinked and shook his head. “Okay, um. I knew you had some impressive wings, 32-foot wingspan like whoa, but I never saw them spread out like that. You even have a badass not-really-a-scar on one, I’m jealous, dude. So jealous.”

Barry folded his wings. Cisco looked disappointed in his life choices.

Caitlin waved a hand, catching their attention. Barry looked at her, then her wings and, ha, Caitlin Snow had snow white wings. Neat. “Actually,” the doctor started, “you got one thing wrong Cisco. His wings aren’t 32 feet, they’re 35 feet from tip to tip.”

“Wha- seriously,” Barry asked despairingly, “you’re being serious? They got _bigger?_ ”

“Uh, yeah, apparently so,” Cisco nodded as though he had known this all along.

“Oh my god. Great, now I’m going to knock even more things over than I already do. They were already so freaking _awkward_ , and now they’re even _bigger_.”

Caitlin nodded sympathetically. Cisco laughed, because clearly he was a jerk.

“Hello, yes, are you all done chatting now,” A bored voice drawled from the doorway, and it only took a moment for Barry to identify it. After all, who wouldn’t be able to recognize their idol’s voice? Someone who wasn’t a true fan, obviously, and Barry was definitely a true fan.

It helped that he remembered Caitlin telling Cisco to call Dr. Wells earlier, which apparently had happened when he wasn’t paying attention. Plus, maybe he didn’t want to think too much about his idol whose machine landed him in a coma for nine months, and probably caused serious damage to other people as well. Explosion like that, there would have been deaths. _He_ should have been one of those deaths.

“I really have to go,” he blurted out, causing everyone to stare at him, Cisco in disappointment, Caitlin in confusion, and Dr. Wells in… Barry wasn’t sure, but for some reason it made him uncomfortable, which was ridiculous, he shouldn’t let his subconscious blame towards Dr. Wells influence his perceptions. A good investigator never allowed emotion to cloud their judgement.

“But Barry,” Caitlin tried, “you’re medically unprecedented. We have no idea what effects your circumstances will have on you. You don’t know this, but when you were in a coma you kept on flat lining, except your heart never stopped, it was just beating too fast for the machines to keep track of. Who knows what else might happen now that you’re awake and moving around.”

“Listen, I’m really grateful for everything you’ve done, and for taking care of me and stuff, but I really need to go,” his skin seemed to be buzzing with energy, and not moving was starting to become almost painful. He _couldn’t_ just stay here and let them check him over, he needed to _move_ , and he needed to let his family know he was awake. “Hey, okay, I’ll come back alright? Then we can figure this… whatever is going on with me out. Alright?”

Barry went to leave, then stopped. “So, uh, could I have a shirt?” Caitlin nodded slowly, looking reluctant, and handed him a STAR labs sweatshirt. Which, awesome. Pulling it on, Barry folded his wings as tightly as he could so he could stretch the wing-slits over them. He grinned somewhat goofily at the shirt, his inner fanboy practically squeeing, and looked up. “So, uh thanks, I’ll see you guys soon, definitely,” Barry started walking backwards towards the door, “and uh, can I keep the shirt?”

Dr. Wells gave him a flat look, and Barry almost winced. “You can keep the shirt, Barry. But we’ll be expecting you back soon. The things that could be learned from your biology are limitless, and aside from that, the repercussions on your health will become problematic without our expertise. I’ll escort you out.”

Barry nodded, grinned nervously, and followed behind Dr. Wells as he led him out. As Dr. Wells talked to him about having achieved his life’s work for 45 minutes, only to have it result in tragedy, Barry felt even worse about his earlier thoughts. Right then he swore not to let the circumstances make him feel resentment towards a man simply trying to make up for the damage he had caused. Dr. Wells had lost his legs in addition to his wings, which had been gone since Barry was eleven going by the man’s autobiography, and Barry couldn’t even imagine that. He couldn’t let his own paranoia get in the way of his respect for a good man.

 

* * *

 

So after leaving the lab, Barry decided to go Jitters, because Jitters meant Iris, and if he let his sister know he was awake, she would let Joe know, and boom, family who needed to know he was awake, covered. He was brilliant, clearly.

Outside, he spread his wings, stretching them and giving a few testing maneuvers. Like the rest of him, they not only felt fine, they felt better than ever before, and with a few hard flaps, Barry was pleased to note that his wings were still strong enough to get him off the ground without a running start, even despite the added weight from their increased size. Though that wasn’t surprising, considering his entire body seemed to be made out of pure muscle now, which meant added strength.

Still though, a running start made it easier to get off the ground, and he had plenty of space. So with a few hard strides, he stretched his wings, caught the air, and gave a hard flap. For some reason it actually seemed easier than it used to be, getting into the air. Like, _a lot_ easier, more so than a frame consisting of pure muscle could account for. At the moment though, he pushed the thought aside, eager to get to Iris and bask in her comforting presence. He needed to settle himself, and who was better for that than his family? It was that thought that had him flying there in the first place. His wings never failed to attract an uncomfortable amount of attention, so he usually kept them carefully tucked against his back, and as still as possible in public. When he wanted to fly, he took off and landed in areas where a lot of people wouldn’t see him. Right now though, he was far too impatient for that. Barry had always hated waiting, and right now having to wait for himself to walk or catch a ride all the way to Jitters was more than he could handle.

Barry gained altitude for a while, until he was at least high enough that everyone on the streets wouldn’t notice him passing by. Instead, he would only be noticed by those watching the skies for whatever reason, a vast improvement over the former. Barry coasted for a few moments, rapidly calculating the direction of the public landing area nearest Jitters, then banked that way and angled his wings to pick up a bit of speed. For a split second, something inside him seemed to wake, urging him on, asking why he was going so slowly when he could be _so much faster than this_ , and for a second his head felt a little fuzzy and Barry wondered if he should have maybe, _maybe_ stayed for that examination. But then the landing area was in sight, and that was a lot faster than he expected but whatever.

Barry circled the area, judging it was relatively clear, and gave a loud, questioning whistle. A moment’s silence, and a replying whistle came, indicating he was free to land. Impatient, Barry tucked his wings in, going into a hunting dive, and in a fraction of a second he calculated the exact moment he needed to pull up, judging by his speed and the distance to the landing pad. Time seemed to stretch for just a moment, shortly returning to normal before he could really notice beyond an afterthought. At the moment he calculated, he flared his wings, sharply pulling up from his dive and feeling slightly confused when he didn’t feel any of the expected strain on his muscles. Another thing to think about later.

The entire area had gone silent, and he could feel the stares on him as he tucked away his wings. For once though, Barry was able to ignore them, quickly moving away at a fast pace that was closer to a jog than a walk. This time, he didn’t feel that strange energy urging him to go faster, so maybe it was a passing thing?

Or maybe it would pop up again out of nowhere. Probably that.

Walking into the coffee shop, his head swiveled about, looking for Iris. Her scent was strong and recent, so obviously she was there.

“Barry!” Of course, as usual, Iris noticed him first. Sometimes he swore she had secretly developed a Barry radar, because she always knew where he was and what he was doing. Dashing over to him, her arms wrapped him in a hug, clutching him almost too tightly, but Barry didn’t say anything about it.

After all, while he felt like he’d seen her a few hours ago, for her, he had been gone for nine months. For a split second, she trembled in his arms, the scent of utter relief and happiness toying against his nose, and then she pulled away. Barry smiled softly at her slightly shiny eyes.

“Alright,” Iris declared abruptly, “you wait, it’s almost my break and there’s a whole lot you need to catch up on.”

And that’s exactly what happened.

One of the main points was that Iris was dating detective pretty boy, or Eddie Thawne as he was apparently called, and Barry congratulated her on the excellent catch with a grin and a high five. If Iris liked him, he couldn’t be all looks and no brains. His mind drifted to Oliver a split second, but nine months had passed, and they only knew each other for a day. It was even more unrealistic than it had been before. Not that it had been realistic in the first place which, ha, kind of the point.

As the two of them caught up, Barry noticed someone crashing into a waitress out of the corner of his eye. That was when things got a little weird. Time seemed to slow down. He could see everything happening like a live-action version of those videos where someone created a recording and slowed it down several hundred times. It was kind of freaking him out, and he stared, dumbfounded, as the tray crashed to the ground. He could see the glass break, could pick out each individual droplet and shard as the force caused them to fly upward and outward.

Okay, not kind of freaking out. _Definitely_ freaking out.

“Hey, Barry,” Iris’ voice brought his attention snapping back to her, and time returned to its normal flow. First abs courtesy of being struck by lightning, now this? What else was going to happen today?

“Are you really alright?” At first he thought she noted his distraction, but then he realized she was looking right at his left wings, namely the bright white scar(?) arcing across it. Hopefully she was too distracted by the cosmetic change to notice the way his feathers were tense and slightly quivering. With how overprotective she could get, sometimes Barry wished his sister was a little less… _Alpha_.

(The Alpha tendency to control everything in their life and ensure the safety of their chosen flock could kind of grate sometimes. On several occasions, Barry had wondered why they couldn’t be like Omegas, who even if they worried, ultimately trusted their flock to be able to handle themselves. Of course, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t do the best they could to take care of and provide for others, but that was because they wanted to, not because they believed others couldn’t care for themselves. Okay, that was a little unfair to Alphas, he knew they just wanted to ensure others were safe, but Barry could _handle himself, thank you Iris_.)

“Yeah, of course I am! Here, look, my wings are practically better than ever,” unthinkingly Barry spread his left wing out towards Iris, allowing her to get a good look at the oversized appendage and judge for herself. Iris looked slightly surprised, which was the point where he remembered why he didn’t do things like this in public, but he powered through the awkward feeling. Seeing Barry not pulling back, Iris smiled slightly (she always told him to be more confident, and stop worrying about others staring) and carefully looked over the wing, confirming his words.

“Alright, you pass,” Iris smiled at him fondly, leaning back and wrapping her hands around her now cold coffee. Looking at his own cup, Barry was slightly confused to see it gone, since he couldn’t remember actually drinking it. But well, not even close to the weirdest thing that had happened today.

(Lightning+coma=abs? There is definitely something wrong with that equation. Several somethings, in fact.)

“I’m glad you’re back, Bear,” Iris said, “but have you told dad yet?”

“Err… I was hoping I could tell you, then you could tell him,” Barry offered awkwardly.

Iris rolled her eyes. “What do you think is going to happen, you big dork? Thinking dad is going to yell at you for being struck by lightning?”

“Uh, yes, actually,” he clicked his teeth nervously, wilting under her unimpressed gaze.

Iris grabbed her jacket and stood. “Alright, come on then, down to the station we go.”

Barry didn’t even bother resisting, standing and obediently following as Iris began walking with purpose to the police station. His wings curled around him slightly, and yes, okay, he knew Joe wasn’t mad at him for being in an accident, knew he’d be incredibly relieved that Barry was awake. That just, wasn’t really translating to his amygdala at the moment. Blame his temporal lobe, not him.

Halfway there, Iris abruptly stopped, turning and giving him a nervous smile. “Uh, Bear, could you maybe, possibly not tell dad about me and Eddie?”

Barry stared at her, eyebrows slowly climbing towards his hairline. “Okay, let’s ignore the whole hiding your relationship thing, you seriously think your Detective dad, who is partners with your boyfriend, doesn’t already know?”

Iris flushed under his disbelieving expression. “Hey, there’s no way he knows! If he knew he would have done something already!”

“ _Or_ , he’s just waiting for you to tell him, so he can tell you he already knew.”

“That’s ridiculous, no way he would do that,” Iris crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.

A sly smile crept onto his face, and for a moment it was like nothing had changed. “You sound confident. Want to bet on it?”

Iris grinned, razor sharp. “How much?”

“Twenty bucks says he knows.”

“Twenty bucks says he doesn’t.” Iris practically sang.

“We have a deal, Ms. West,” Barry stuck out a hand, and Iris shook it.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Allen.”

 

* * *

 

“Dad!” Iris darted over, grabbing Joe and jabbing a finger towards Barry, who was walking at a more subdued pace. The Detective’s eyes widened slightly, and a relieved grin broke across his face. His charcoal wings fluffed up, something that Barry had only seen a few times with how his foster-father was always on alert. Then, he found himself wrapped in a hug, grey wings surrounding him and blocking the light, comforting, and for a moment he was a kid again, feeling like Joe’s wings could block out all the bad things in the world.

Joe withdrew, but continued to smile at him. “It’s good to talk to you again, Bear. I’m glad you’re alright.”

Barry shrugged, grinning sheepishly, and something unwound in him. “You know me; I never stay down for long.”

Joe, chuckled, started to say something else, but they were interrupted when he was called to handle a robbery at Gold City Bank. Joe shot Barry an apologetic look, and Barry just smiled in understanding. He wasn’t going to begrudge Joe going out to help people, after all, though he did offer to help even knowing Joe would turn him down considering he just woke up.

As Joe left, Detective Thawne, or as Barry remembered him, Detective pretty boy, came out. Noticing Barry, Thawne walked over, pulling on his jacket, and grinned at him. Barry noted despairingly that he didn’t feel a thing despite the man totally being his type. Damn it, Oliver, with his stupid perfect face, and his stupid perfect hair, and his stupid perfect muscles…

“I’m glad to see you’re awake, Barry,” Thawne offered with a smile, oblivious to his internal despair “a lot of people were concerned about you.” Thawne turned to Iris, as though he couldn’t keep from gravitating in her direction, and his ridiculously sappy expression which his sister returned honestly made Barry jealous of Iris, because he doubted he would ever have something like that for himself.

Barry got over it a moment later, though, because there’s no way he could begrudge someone else, much less his sister, their happiness just because he didn’t have the same. It wasn’t his style. Instead, he gave Eddie a teasing grin.

“You had better take care of my sister, Detective Thawne,” Barry continued smiling even more brilliantly than before, and Eddie stared at him in surprise. Since no one else was around, Barry didn’t worry about arching his wings and spreading them as wide as he could, casting shadows over all three of them even as he continued to beam. Eddie actually looked nervous, and Iris was staring like she had never seen him before. “I’ve never seen Iris smile at anyone like she smiles at you, so if you end up breaking her heart, I’m definitely going to make you regret it,” Barry was still smiling brightly, and his voice was cheerful as he spoke. Looking at Eddie’s frozen form, he was satisfied he had gotten his point across, and snapped his wings closed again.

At least his wings were good for a couple things, like threatening his sister’s boyfriend.

Eddie nodded stiffly, turning and leaving as quickly as he could. It looked kind of like he was running away, actually.

“I thought it was against the laws of the universe for you to look intimidating,” Iris said, and Barry was glad she looked closer to laughing than yelling, “but clearly I was wrong.”

Barry scratched the back of his head nervously, chuckling. “Yeah, well my wingspan has to be good for something aside from knocking people out, right?”

“Hey, you’re one of the best fliers I’ve ever seen,” Iris grinned at him, “but honestly if you were directing that whole hurt her and I’ll destroy you thing at anyone else, they probably would start crying.”

Barry blinked innocently. “Isn’t that the point? Really, I think I might have fallen short just now, but I’ve never really done it before. Maybe I should practice some and try again.”

Iris bent over, clutching her stomach as she laughed. “Even without the display, I’m pretty sure that smile on your face just now would scare most people out of their wits.”

This time, he really was confused. “I was just trying to show him there were no hard feelings, even if I would destroy him if he hurts you.”

“Yeah, that only makes it worse, Bear. Now come on, let’s go since apparently there’s no one around anymore.”

Barry nodded agreeably, standing and following along much more happily than before he talked to Joe. But then, as they left, he noticed one of the detainee’s reaching for the gun of an officer who was restraining him.

Once again, time slowed down. Distantly, he noticed golden lightning leaping across his skin. In a split second, before he even registered his own movement, he was by the detainee, stopping him from doing anything, and was back by Iris. Time sped up again, and the only sign of what happened was the confused expression on the detainee’s face, and a rapidly fading trail of orange sparks.

Alright, that was it. He needed to go back to STAR labs. Hurriedly promising Iris he would call her later that night, he darted out the door before she could ask for an explanation. His hand was shaking, and when he looked down he realized that it wasn’t _just_ shaking, it was vibrating so fast he couldn’t see it.

Even more freaked out than before, Barry took off running, but he was going fast. Like, a lot faster than should be _humanly possible, what the hell was going on!?_

A trail of golden electricity streamed behind him like a comet’s tail, sparking and fading to orange before disappearing completely. A garbage bin appeared right in front of him, and he barely managed to avoid it before crashing face-first while moving at what seemed to be, god just thinking this made him feel crazy, _super-speed?_

Barry stopped, then hesitated. He just needed to know… He tugged at that previous feeling, and a moment later, after breaking the window of a police car, he took off, this time consciously accessing the whatever it was, the panic starting to be replaced by exhilaration. Suddenly this seemed a lot less scary, and a lot more, well, _awesome_.

Barry pushed himself harder, streamlining his form, and just like the previous times the world seemed to slow down around him, he felt like he could see _everything_. Except, he was so caught up in the thrill of running like this, dashing through the alleys so fast the human eye would only perceive him as a blur, he quit paying attention to his surroundings for a split second, which is too long when you’re moving that fast. Crashing through the back of a van, he groaned in pain, but kept his wits about him enough to dart out again before the guy who owned the van could see him.

Okay, this time he really was going to STAR labs, before he seriously injured himself or someone else.

 

* * *

 

The test run was exhilarating, though running in an open area with only tight pants and a helmet on was kind of embarrassing, and the crash was even more so. (He very carefully filed away his latest conclusions about exactly what kind of impossible the man in yellow had been, a new realization sprouting thanks to his memory of the familiar trails of lightning, moving so fast his figure was a blur.) But hey, he had super-healing as well as super-speed, which, cool! Also, judging by the force he would have impacted the ground at considering his speed, he should have had something closer to a shattered arm rather than a mere broken wrist, which meant super-durability too. Already, he was thinking of the countless uses which could come about as a result of super-speed. He had already experienced that, just because _he_ was friction proof didn’t mean whatever he was running on was, which meant if he made some fire-resistant gloves he could create a spark simply by snapping his fingers, which was less practical and more awesome but _still_. He could create fires on a much larger scale by running, and the air currents produced by his movement could direct the flames, which meant low-level aero-kinesis and pyro-kinesis. There were other things as well that he wasn’t thinking of at the moment (not his fault the first thing he thought of was Roy Mustang’s high-friction gloves, he was a nerd, and he knew it) but for now speed alone would be more than enough.

Honestly, the whole “not a hero, just some guy struck by lightning” thing stung, especially after Joe blew up at him about his continued insistence on the existence of the man in the lightning. Also, Dr. Well’s claim that he hadn’t had any proof that there were meta-humans other than Barry just made him suspicious, though he forced those feelings away, telling himself he was just paranoid. There was no reason for Dr. Wells to lie about that, after all, and Barry shouldn’t have blown up on him in the first place about hiding it from him.

Barry hadn’t ever thought this was some kind of weird destined to have these powers thing, he _knew_ it was by chance, that he wasn’t special. But in the end, _he still had gotten those powers_ , and since he had them shouldn’t he use them to help people? Help _beyond_ just acting like a really unique lab project? Like Spiderman’s uncle had said, with great power comes great responsibility, and John F. Kennedy once quoted that all it took for evil to triumph, was for good men to do nothing. Barry didn’t want to be someone who did nothing, even when they _could_ do something. He didn’t need to be a hero, didn’t even want to be, he just wanted to be a good man.

Was that really so awful?

There was one person he could ask about this. One person who had years of experience with being a hero.

Maybe Oliver could help clear his mind of his doubts, help him decide one or another: should he listen to everyone else, or should he listen to what he believed was the right thing to do? Barry pulled out his phone, scrolling to a contact number that he never had the chance to use. Getting an agreeable reply, Barry released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

For a moment, he considered flying to Starling, but since he hadn’t practiced with his speed in conjunction with flight, he figured he should just stick to running for now. No need to make a fool out of himself, _again_.

 

* * *

 

Oliver crouched on a rooftop, waiting. He was feeling way more than he was used to, and wasn’t sure what to do about it. At least, he knew he was glad Barry was awake, but he’d need more time to process everything before he could properly put a label on his emotions.

He was distracted from his thoughts by a whoosh from behind him. Turning, he saw Barry, looking awkward with his wings spread slightly, feathers held stiff. Unsurprisingly, the first thing Oliver noticed was the marking that had appeared on his left wing. It was glaring white, a stark contrast to the gorgeous gold and red of the rest of his wings. Oliver’s mind abruptly jumped to a time when he was on the island. The sun had been setting, the storm clouds condensed rather than covering the sky, and a flash of white lightning had cracked the air, cutting the sky in half for a split second before fading away, nothing but the rumble of thunder left. The marking on his wing looked almost identical to his memory of that scene.

Barry noticed him staring, of course he did, his supposed to be brief once-over had lasted far too long, and misunderstood the look. “Uh, don’t worry, it’s only cosmetic, the mark on my wing, I mean. Well, no, not really, my wings are actually bigger than before, which is awful and really awkward, but nothing I can do about it now, haha…” Barry laughed awkwardly, trailing off. Oliver continued to stare, deciding to take advantage of the misunderstanding to get a proper look at his wings, because if there was one thing he knew, it was that now that Barry had concluded he was concerned about wing damage, he would want to prove that he was fine.

Oliver knew he judged correctly when Barry shuffled his feet slightly, then flared his wings agonizingly slowly, opening to their full extent. If Oliver hadn’t been so good at schooling his expressions, he would have gaped in awe. They were definitely bigger, because a glance told him their full spread was closer to 35 feet than 32, which Felicity had indicated was their full size before the coma. They were even more gorgeous than he had imagined them to be, and the white marking only accented their appearance, making the brilliant colors stand out more against its stark contrast. The only thing that would make this picture better would be if Barry had exposed his ruff a little, but Oliver firmly banished those thoughts. He was taking advantage of him enough already, tricking him into showing off his wings under the pretense of checking for injuries. Though, to keep up appearances, Oliver was careful to actually examine them, and he was no doctor but he had never seen wings in that good condition.

Satisfied with his, ah, examination, Oliver nodded in acceptance. Barry looked oddly relieved, but then again he had noticed that the man seemed reluctant to so much as twitch his wings in front of other people, much less spread them in full display. Now then, to get to the point of this visit… “What did you want to speak with me about, Barry?”

Which led to a full on outpouring of exactly what had happened since he woke up, from super-speed, to finding out about other meta-humans, to his failure to save someone and then Harrison’s and Joe’s words. Then finishing his statement by softly admitting that he wasn’t sure if he could be like Oliver, acting as a vigilante and saving people.

Well, now he had an explanation about Barry’s worry of admitting the truth of what he saw, if even his foster family didn’t believe him about what happened. Right now though, what Barry needed was someone to tell him that he would make mistakes, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be a hero. They were human, and humans made mistakes, but as long as they weren’t dead they could _learn_ from those mistakes. So Oliver told him the truth, that he couldn’t be like him. Because he could be _better_ , someone who didn’t have to resort to his rough methods, someone who could act as a beacon of hope and light to his city, saving people in a flash.

The utter relief and gratitude in the beaming smile Barry sent him gave Oliver the closest he had felt to warm and fuzzy feelings in his entire life (pre-island Oliver was too shallow, and post-island Oliver too traumatized) which was a super-power all on its own, Felicity would have said.

Saying their goodbyes, Barry with new courage and Oliver with new _feelings_ (ugh) Oliver wanted to show off a little, so shooting an arrow at another roof he zip lined away, a flap of his raven wings helping him to move even faster. His sharp hearing caught the soft _cool_ Barry whispered under his breath as he disappeared, and Oliver perched to watch him leave.

Barry was surrounded in an electric corona of molten orange and gold, dashing away at a speed so fast even Oliver’s sharp eyes could only register a blur. Barry’s wings had looked different at that moment, but he had moved so fast that he couldn’t get a proper look. Oliver figured that, judging from their glowing electric appearance, it was simply the effect of the lightning leaping off Barry’s skin when he used his speed. Mimicking Barry’s earlier comment, Oliver watched him disappear within seconds and whispered under his breath, _“cool”_ , before leaving the rooftop to return to the foundry ( _never the arrow cave_ , Felicity _)_.

 

* * *

 

So. Barry got back, and what did he find? Mardon out and about this time, targeting his foster father with a _fucking tornado_ , that was rapidly gaining strength and heading for the city. Which, even without Joe there, was, uh, bad.

Super bad.

So Barry came up with an idea that was, well, probably more than a little dumb, but it was all he had. No time like life-threatening danger to test out flying while using his speed, right?

(Oh god, he was about to die.)

This time when he took to the air, he didn’t resist the feeling of _go faster, faster, faster_ that raged up within him. Instead, he fell into it, giving up all pretense of control and instead urging the feeling back, practically daring it (and it wasn’t sentient, was it, so why did it feel like it was?) to make him faster, demanding _is this really all you can do?_ Well, it certainly rose to the challenge.

For a little while, the entire world seemed to slow down, not one speck of dust escaping his attention, and he shot to the top of the tornado, flying increasingly fast in the opposite direction it was spinning, slowly losing altitude as he unraveled it from the top down. When Mardon knocked him away with a hard gust of wind, it merely took him seconds to corkscrew into a recover and continue circling. After all, throughout his entire life not even his worst bully had dared to say he was bad at flying.

(Later, he would be told that from the outside it looked as though a solid orange-gold wall had appeared around the tornado, and when the color faded, there was nothing inside. There was a recording posted by someone who clearly had no survival instinct, and the insane number of views was only matched by the number of comments speculating about the events. The only hint of what happened was what looked like someone with gold and red wings that looked like they were made out of pure electricity racing away from the scene, and that had only been visible when the video was slowed down several tens of times.)

Maybe he could do this hero thing after all.

 

* * *

 

Eobard Thawne sat in the time cell, silently contemplating the latest events while staring at the article talking about the disappearance of the Flash in 2024. Speedsters did not keep their wings, everyone who knew _anything_ about them knew that. Eobard could still remember the agony as the speed force seared through him, his wings burning away under its sheer relentless power. It was a trade-off, and once a speedster got fast enough they were practically capable of flight even without wings.

So why was it, then, that Barry Allen still had his? In the original timeline, Barry Allen had been wingless, stripped of the limbs when he gained access to the speed force like any other speedster. So what, exactly, had changed this time around?

Eobard had analyzed Barry’s wings in secret, attempting to discover exactly that, and what he found only left him with more questions than answers. They looked like wings, acted like wings, responded like wings, felt like them, and hurt like them, but that made no sense because they weren’t _really_ physical wings anymore. They were pure, untarnished energy that had taken the shape of wings. Absolutely no one would be able to tell the difference, even Eobard’s technology hadn’t been able to before Barry accessed his speed, because _normally_ they were as, well, normal as any other wings, if unusually appealing. They had bones, blood, muscle, and feathers, absolutely _normal_ in every way. But the moment Barry tapped into the speed force, they stopped holding their physical form, transforming into electrical energy constructs that were wings only in shape and function, before returning to physical form again as though nothing had happened.

It was inexplicable.

And Eobard didn’t like things he couldn’t explain.


End file.
